Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Discovery Networks Denmark is one of the larger broadcasters in Denmark, operating both some leading local entertainment channels and the Danish versions of the Discovery and Eurosport channels. Last Monday, its entertainment channels, Kanal 4, Kanal 5, Kanal 6 and Kanal 9, all launched new logos based on the same basic structure, a coloured square with the channel number in grey.

Back when the flagship mainstream entertainment channel Kanal 5 launched its previous logo two years ago, this blog noted that the group's channels were using logos with the same underlying design idea (a numeral in a coloured holding shape), which meant the logos worked well side-by-side in cross promotion, but were different enough to build an identity. This rebrand goes one step further, enforcing a completely uniform look with the same typeface and structure for all logos. The only thing that differs is colour-coding and the numeral itself.

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

The Australian Museum is a natural history in museum in Sydney that is also the oldest museum in Australia. Last week it launched a new visual identity, developed with interactive ad agency 303Lowe, who were appointed back in January.

The new symbol is an abstract representation of the initials AM in red and ochre, the earth tones of Australia. This "zig-zag" can also be turned into a pattern which is frequently used in the museum's communication.

Friday, August 21, 2015

Technical difficulties once again lead to a delayed logo round-up for July 2015, but here it finally is. The northern hemisphere was clearly in summer mode with less activity, but there were nonetheless several brands that renewed their visual identities, including peripherals maker Logitech and the recently merged KraftHeinz Company. And of course, we got to see the emblem for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Moxi, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation is the name of a new children's museum that is due to open in Santa Barbara, California next year. It is designed by be a place where children can learn through play. The entire identity, including strategy, naming and visuals, was developed by Loyalkaspar. (Incidentally, the logo was revealed almost a year ago but the project has not really received the attention it deserves.)

Moxi is marketed as "A Playground for Your Brain" and positioned as "a hub for learning, creativity and innovation". An additional benefit in the name is that four letters acronyms beginning with Mo- are generally associated with museum names (e. g. MoMA). The applications use bright primary colours and minimal graphics. The logo has an offset tittle over the I, suggesting "someone leaning forward to look closer and interact".

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Café Zero is a brand of frozen coffee drink sold by Unilever in Europe. It was launched a few years ago as a sub-brand of its ice cream brand (the "Heartbrand"). Earlier this year, it was relaunched as standalone brand with a new look by London-based Carter Wong Design.

The agency gave Café Zero its own mark, a coffee bean combined with a snowflake, that dominates the packaging. The "Heartbrand" takes a step back and is only seen as an endorser in point-of-sale graphics.

Thursday, August 13, 2015

ITV2 is the second channel from Britain's leading commercial broadcaster ITV and firmly established in the top ten of the nation's most watched television channels. In recent years it has repositioned itself slightly as "the naughty sibling in the ITV family" with a mix of broad youthful entertainment programming (and the future home of Family Guy). Yesterday, it launched a new look to fit that remit, summed up in the slogan "TV. And then some".

The channel last changed its look in January 2013 along with the other ITV channels. The logo introduced then has been retained, but has changed colour. The new look was created by ManvsMachine together with in-house agency ITV Creative.

The idents feature a set of different shots with objects that are supposed to communicate ITV2's brand attributes. Rather than playing out the full scenes, the team has created an algorithm that shows snippets from different scenes at random. According to ManvsMachine, the system can produce 300,000 different iterations, which means it would take 36 years for every possible combination to be played out.

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Google has grown way beyond a search engine and is now a diverse company that is involved in many innovative industries. This week, it decided to recognise that and took the unusual step of rebranding itself at a corporate level. Google is now a major part of Alphabet, a company that in addition to Internet and software also invests in self-driving cars and healthcare.

Alphabet is of course a great manifestation of how diverse businesses (letters) can form a whole (language). The blog post that launched the new name says it was selected because language is one of "humanity's most important innovations" and is an important part in Google's operations.

The visual identity appears fairly subdued, with the only thing released so far being a wordmark and a simple website with alphabet blocks representing the company's businesses. This is probably in line with Alphabet's role as a corporate name that is usually not communicated to consumers.

Monday, August 10, 2015

Two of the largest cyber security firms in the United States, Accuvant and FishNet Security, merged earlier this year to become Optiv Security. The new corporate identity was unveiled in June and designed by New York-based Lippincott.

Lippincott were involved in the entire process from strategy to naming and design. The selected name is a combination of the words "active" and "operative". The simple logo features two half circles which are part of "the endless chain of available cyber security options", but can also be seen as a symbol for unlocking potential solutions.

Friday, August 7, 2015

The largest airlines in Chile and Brazil, LAN and TAM, merged a couple of years ago to form the LATAM Airlines Group. The two airline brands have remained in use and LATAM was merely a holding company, until yesterday when new LATAM brand was unveiled. The new corporate identity was developed by Interbrand.

The LATAM name is not only a union of the merger partners' names, but also an abbreviation of Latin America. It thereby allows the brand to claim the entire region as its home and market.

Interbrand developed a logo that can work in different settings, including as 3D animation. Its shape is a not overly literal interpretation of the shape of the continent, with lines alluding to flights taking off across the world.

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

It has been a while since we featured a mainstream food rebrand, but here's one that was revealed recently. Kraft Macaroni & Cheese is an old and popular food product in North America, including Canada where it is known as "Kraft Dinner".

The product is also commonly referred to by the shorthand "KD", which the company has been using in recent years. Last week, Kraft Foods announced that the product would be officially rebranded as KD in Canada. At the same time, they introduced a new circular logo and updated packaging

Monday, August 3, 2015

Dr.Reddy's Laboratories is an Indian pharmaceutical company that manufactures and sells affordable medicine in India and overseas. At the beginning of July, it launched a new corporate identity, created by Wolff Olins in Dubai and London.

The rebrand is part of Dr. Reddy's development into a more patient-focused company. The symbol is a heart partly made up of circles, where the heart expresses empathy for the patient and the circles stand for dynamism, innovation and agility. The company has also been given a signature colour, purple, which stands for creativity and wisdom.